[Singapore] - PM Lee’s interview with CNN praised by Americans but criticised in China

[UltimaOnline]

The video interview itself : https://edition.cnn.com/videos/tv/2020/03/29/exp-gps-0329-loong-on-covid-and-china.cnn


PM Lee’s interview with CNN praised by Americans but criticised in China
Chinese state media picked up on his comments asking China and the U.S. to work together but left others out.

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s remarks on China and the United States during his live interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Sunday, March 29, have received vastly different receptions in the U.S. and China.


Lauded by Americans who are critics of Trump

His explanation on Singapore’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak was praised by a largely partisan audience, who compared him to U.S. President Donald Trump’s handling of the public health crisis.

PM Lee: ‘Flattening the curve’ for Covid-19 might require 1 year to 18 months, not going away soon

Trump has been criticised for being slow and ineffective in his management of the outbreak.



Here are some comments by those who were blown away by PM Lee’s interview.

<img src="https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.08.12-PM.png" alt="" width="938" height="178" class="wp-image-465767 size-full" srcset="https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.08.12-PM.png 938w, https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.08.12-PM-768x145.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 938px) 100vw, 938px" />
Screengrab via Fareed Zakaria/Facebook

<img src="https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.39.10-PM.png" alt="" width="938" height="182" class="wp-image-465768 size-full" srcset="https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.39.10-PM.png 938w, https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.39.10-PM-768x149.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 938px) 100vw, 938px" />
Screengrab via Fareed Zakaria/Facebook

<img src="https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.39.30-PM.png" alt="" width="928" height="152" class="wp-image-465770 size-full" srcset="https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.39.30-PM.png 928w, https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.39.30-PM-768x125.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 928px) 100vw, 928px" />
Screengrab via Fareed Zakaria/Facebook

<img src="https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.39.51-PM.png" alt="" width="928" height="152" class="wp-image-465771 size-full" srcset="https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.39.51-PM.png 928w, https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.39.51-PM-768x125.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 928px) 100vw, 928px" />
Screengrab via Fareed Zakaria/Facebook

<img src="https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.40.00-PM.png" alt="" width="928" height="182" class="wp-image-465772 size-full" srcset="https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.40.00-PM.png 928w, https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.40.00-PM-768x150.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 928px) 100vw, 928px" />
Screengrab via Fareed Zakaria/Facebook

<img src="https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.40.09-PM.png" alt="" width="874" height="126" class="wp-image-465773 size-full" srcset="https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.40.09-PM.png 874w, https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.40.09-PM-768x110.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 874px) 100vw, 874px" />
Screengrab via Fareed Zakaria/Facebook

<img src="https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.40.55-PM.png" alt="" width="926" height="414" class="wp-image-465775 size-full" srcset="https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.40.55-PM.png 926w, https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.40.55-PM-768x343.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 926px) 100vw, 926px" />
Screengrab via Fareed Zakaria/Facebook

<img src="https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.40.18-PM.png" alt="" width="770" height="114" class="wp-image-465774 size-full" srcset="https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.40.18-PM.png 770w, https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.40.18-PM-768x113.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px" />
Screengrab via Fareed Zakaria/Facebook
PM Lee was praised by American singer Barbra Streisand as well.

The Prime Minister of Singapore (a country that only has three deaths out of 6 million people) speaks such common sense. He tells people the truth and they did everything that needed to be done to be ready for this virus.
— Barbra Streisand (@BarbraStreisand) March 30, 2020

Comments that the U.S. and China should cooperate highlighted by Chinese state media

While PM Lee’s remarks were mostly well received by the American audience, they were met with a different reception by Chinese social media users.

Highlighting his comments on U.S.-China relations, hawkish state-controlled newspaper Global Times carried his comment that specifically said the U.S. and China have to work together to deal with the virus.

PM Lee: China could have done better in Covid-19 response, but same goes for other countries

Global Times also emphasised his comment saying that swapping insults and blaming each other for inventing the virus is not going to help solve the problem sooner.

Criticised by Chinese commenters
The post has since attracted a flood of comments from Chinese social media users on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform, where nationalistic voices are typically amplified.

Many commenters were furious as they had perceived PM Lee’s remarks as standing on the side of the U.S., and not China.

Some were also angered that Singapore comes across as telling China what to do, even though it is many times smaller than China.

<img src="https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.00.00-PM.png" alt="" width="1140" height="102" class="wp-image-465766 size-full" srcset="https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.00.00-PM.png 1140w, https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.00.00-PM-768x68.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1140px) 100vw, 1140px" />
Screengrab via Global Times/Weibo

“Easy for one to comment when one is not involved in the matter himself.”

<img src="https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.59.21-PM.png" alt="" width="1150" height="98" class="wp-image-465790 size-full" srcset="https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.59.21-PM.png 1150w, https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.59.21-PM-768x65.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1150px) 100vw, 1150px" />
Screengrab via Global Times/Weibo

“(China) has clearly given the U.S. lots of lead time, but it’s the Americans who did not value it.”

<img src="https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.54.38-PM.png" alt="" width="1148" height="120" class="wp-image-465785 size-full" srcset="https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.54.38-PM.png 1148w, https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.54.38-PM-768x80.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1148px) 100vw, 1148px" />
Screengrab via Passion News/Weibo

“What does ‘swapping of insults’ mean? It’s the Americans who are the ones creating trouble, okay?”

<img src="https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.59.27-PM.png" alt="" width="1140" height="88" class="wp-image-465789 size-full" srcset="https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.59.27-PM.png 1140w, https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.59.27-PM-768x59.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1140px) 100vw, 1140px" />
Screengrab via Global Times/Weibo

“Tiny country, large ambitions.”

<img src="https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.55.12-PM.png" alt="" width="1160" height="132" class="wp-image-465784 size-full" srcset="https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.55.12-PM.png 1160w, https://mothership.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-5.55.12-PM-768x87.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1160px) 100vw, 1160px" />
Screengrab via Passion News/Weibo

“When the outbreak happened in China, the U.S. took advantage of China’s vulnerable state. And did they speak out on China’s behalf? The U.S. is the source of all sins on earth, the public enemy of all mankind!”

PM Lee defended the Chinese government’s response to outbreak

Such reactions were in spite of PM Lee defending the Chinese government in response to Zakaria’s question if he thought criticism towards China that it covered up the outbreak in its initial stages was “fair”.

PM Lee replied:

“I am sure that there were many aspects of the Chinese response to this outbreak which they will look back upon and believe that they should have done better. But I do not think overall that one can say this would not have happened if the only the Chinese had done the right thing.”

While PM Lee also said other countries had not fared well in controlling the outbreak even though they had no “Chinese government”, this particular comment was not carried by major news outlets on Weibo.


Why the anger?

Such anger could perhaps partly be explained by the disappointment faced by some Chinese when Singapore appears to take another country’s side over China’s.

According to China experts Chen Nahui and Xue Li, the disappointment comes as there is a shortfall between their expectation of what Singapore — a country with a majority ethnic-Chinese population — is “supposed to do”, and the reality.

Singapore’s leadership has articulated its foreign policy stance repeatedly, saying that it will abide by and promote a rules-based international world order, a condition that is vital for small states like Singapore.


https://mothership.sg/2020/03/pm-lees-cnn-interview-united-states-china/


The video interview itself : https://edition.cnn.com/videos/tv/2020/03/29/exp-gps-0329-loong-on-covid-and-china.cnn

 

[A Singaporean]

China should shut down all Sinkie companies in China starting with gahmen linked companies like Capitaland. Little Red dot always act big and good at bullying Sinkies.

 

[SBFNews]

Nabei CCB. Nothing better to do than to stir such shit by giving an unnecessary TV interview at this time. For fuck sake, just shut up or help sinkies I still won't say him. Really cho bo lan and get involved in the americancunts vs chinkcunts spitting for FUCK??

 

[Narong Wongwan]

Shameless Lee taking credit and talking big even when crisis still happening. Sg has been lucky so far things can still go very wrong without a complete lockdown.
If Sg cases keep spiking then really is egg on his fuckface.

 

[Rogue Trader]

Did he say anything of value? might as well say nothing

 

[glockman]

Sinkieland is lucky to have such a good and brilliant PM, just like NZ. Long live Jacinda

 

[SBFNews]

Sinkieland is lucky to have such a good and brilliant PM, just like NZ. Long live Jacinda

View attachment 74545

In time of crisis, scoring personal political points is disgusting.

 

[UltimaOnline]

[–]DonVox 396 points397 points398 points 13 hours ago (59 children)
This part is interesting:
“ Lee – whose country has emerged in recent years as one of Washington’s most important strategic partners in Southeast Asia – signalled that countries may turn elsewhere if American leadership was not forthcoming to lead the fight against the virus.
“The world has greatly benefited from American leadership in situations like this for decades,” Lee said. But if “America is in a different mode, well, we will get by and I think other configurations will eventually work out but it would be a loss,” the prime minister said.”

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[–]Flocculenciomay correct your grammar 295 points296 points297 points 12 hours ago (40 children)
This has consistently been Singapore's policy position though. We are essentially happy to have the US as an external hegemon with no direct interests in our backyard, in comparison to China who we are willing to give respect to but not to directly align with as Chinese strategic interests will directly affect us. Thus the standard policy position is to work with the US if practical.

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[–]nova9001 164 points165 points166 points 12 hours ago (28 children)
It has always been Singapore's policy to remain neutral hence why its so surprising LHL came up with a direct criticism on US leadership. So far, I don't remember any other nation's leader openly criticizing US.

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[–]SeieiEnbu 91 points92 points93 points 10 hours ago (4 children)
We're not neutral. HQ for Commander, Logistics Group Western Pacific is here. Their air force is here. We send military personnel for training in the US every year.
We play both sides of the fence because it's in our interests to do so but it's clear which horse we've actually backed in the race.

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[–]nova9001 21 points22 points23 points 8 hours ago (0 children)
You made a good point. I think SG is neutral on paper but given how much interest the US has in SG, its safe to say SG is siding with US if anything happens.
Makes it more interesting that LHL criticized the US openly on this issue. I wonder if other close US allies would voice out their opinions.

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[–]WikiTextBot 13 points14 points15 points 10 hours ago (0 children)
Task Force 73
Task Force 73/Commander, Logistics Group Western Pacific (CTF 73/CLWP) is a U.S. Navy task force of the United States Seventh Fleet. CTF 73/CLWP is the U.S. 7th Fleet's provider of combat-ready logistics, maintaining and operating government-owned ships and operating government-contracted vessels to sustain combatant ships and units throughout the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations. CTF 73/CLWP also acts as the Navy Region commander for naval activities in Singapore, with its only subordinate command being the U.S. Navy Region Center Singapore.CTF 73/CLWP is the U.S. 7th Fleet's Theater Security Cooperation agent for South and Southeast Asia, providing persistent engagement with allies and partners across the region through established exercises while forging new maritime partnerships through tailored exchanges, enhanced port visits and expanding repair capabilities at regional shipyards.CTF 73 is headquartered at the Port of Singapore Authority Sembawang Terminal, Singapore, and is commanded by Rear Admiral (Lower Half) Joey Tynch.
497th Combat Training Flight
The 497th Combat Training Flight is a United States Air Force unit. Its present assignment is to Singapore's Paya Lebar Air Base, where its mission is to provides operational and logistical support to U.S. Air Force fighter aircraft deployed to Singapore for training exercises with the Republic of Singapore Air Force.
[ PM | Exclude me | Exclude from subreddit | FAQ / Information | Source ] Downvote to remove | v0.28

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[–]championknight 17 points18 points19 points 8 hours ago (0 children)
We buy their aircraft, would make sense to sweeten the deals. We need land to train our airforce and also makes strategic/economic sense to use their land (also for another purposes besides training)
Otherwise we have to redo it all over again from zero with Chinese/Russian made ones and that could cause raised eyebrows in the US administration
There is also the issue of...our 2 immediate neighbours

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[–]Flocculenciomay correct your grammar 121 points122 points123 points 11 hours ago (17 children)
We aren't actually all that neutral. If you look when it comes down to it we've generally aligned with the US over China. This is also why we've historically been quite bold in directly criticizing the US. Think about prior incidents like the CIA spy case in the 60s or the Michael Fay incident in the 90s.
We are willing to be friendly with China but when you actually look at it we're only neutral to a certain point. The overarching alignment is toward the US.

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[–]DingLeiGorFei 67 points68 points69 points 10 hours ago* (16 children)
That's because LKY despises commies, Hock Lee bus riot was China's attempt at usurping and turning Singapore into a commie state. Ah gong knows better than to trust China, countries who did are now either financially crippled or have its entire country in China control. One Belt One Road is economy colonization.

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[–]profilenamewastaken 32 points33 points34 points 9 hours ago (1 child)
I'm pretty sure in the current situation with LKY not on the scene anymore, it's not so much the political system as the fact that US being dominant in this region is not detrimental to us but the same can't be said of China, as someone already pointed out.

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[–]Flocculenciomay correct your grammar 43 points44 points45 points 9 hours ago (0 children)
Yup. If you're gonna have a hegemon it's better to have a distant one.
Frankly if you want to see what happens if your hegemon is too near look at Latin America. The US has comprehensively fucked it over for a century. SEA basically risks the same from China.

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[–]adognowBörk Börk Börk 56 points57 points58 points 8 hours ago (3 children)
You could say the same about the entirety of Latin America under two centuries of the US' Monroe Doctrine. They are all economic basket cases plus they have violent crime (drugs, murder) problem fueled by guns supplied by the US government.
Don't be naive. The best deal you get is by keeping all great powers at arm's length. LKY was Machiavellian through and through - his extensive contacts with China helped broker significant economic returns for us in many cases - he did not despise communist China. Dogmatic beliefs never get anyone far, it is adaptability that gets a country far. We would trade with communist countries as much as hyper-capitalist countries as long as it benefits us. And this sentiment is precisely what LHL is trying to convey. Our alignment with the US is but an issue of what benefits us.

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[–]gydot 2 points3 points4 points 5 hours ago (1 child)
but Singapore isn't in South America. it's like working from home. and your boss is in their home.
if the boss is your next door neighbour - whoo problems problems.

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[–]adognowBörk Börk Börk 4 points5 points6 points 4 hours ago (0 children)
The CIA once tried to pay off LKY. But I suppose it's not fair that the US did that, because we're not in South America!
Yeah, nah. Political interference is contingent on what a country can offer. Geographical proximity is only a factor if it matters to the country doing the interfering.

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[–]DonVox 34 points35 points36 points 9 hours ago (7 children)
I suspect LHL’s hope is that Trump is voted out and someone sane will get US foreign policy back to normal. He is basically saying “if you don’t get your act together, ASEAN will align to China without a single shot fired”

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[–]KUR1B0H 8 points9 points10 points 8 hours ago (0 children)
Most of ASEAN is already aligned with China anyways

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[–]ShadowFang167 7 points8 points9 points 6 hours ago (1 child)

Hock Lee bus riot was China's attempt at usurping and turning Singapore into a commie state.

I am quite interested in this, is there any article that i can read about it?

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[–]leo-gKumpung Boy 8 points9 points10 points 7 hours ago (4 children)
I think, the current government already damn pek cek with Trump’s government already. We already gave them a free US-NK conference and bought some military and commercial planes.

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[–]nova9001 4 points5 points6 points 7 hours ago (3 children)
Angry also no use.
Many of the critical military hardware used by SG is from US. The F-15s is rarely exported and I think only SG has it in SEA.
With the F-15s, Singapore would never lose in air supremacy.

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[–]leo-gKumpung Boy 2 points3 points4 points 6 hours ago (2 children)
We bought their barely-working F35 and promised to buy 8 more down the line.

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[–]nova9001 3 points4 points5 points 6 hours ago (0 children)
F-35s are pretty insane. $100m + each. The maintenance is also insane because the stealth coating has a very short life span.
Could buy 4 F-15s instead.

 

[tanwahtiu]

When he speak public will shoot at his 38OR fumbling handling of his own siblings problem...

He and Trump need to resign... together old farts....

 

[blackmondy]

Several royalty around the world kenna liao, it's time for our infamous clown prince to embrace the Wuhan virus too.

 

[Annunaki]

 

[nayr69sg]

Wah Singapore good lah!

Steady lah!

Boom beeps beeps.

 

[CPTMiller]

Nabei CCB. Nothing better to do than to stir such shit by giving an unnecessary TV interview at this time. For fuck sake, just shut up or help sinkies I still won't say him. Really cho bo lan and get involved in the americancunts vs chinkcunts spitting for FUCK??

Just talk on coronavirus method use in singapore already score points. Why want to comment on super power countries???

 

[winnipegjets]

Wait till Trump wallop him. Then he will kneel and beg Trump.

 

[Leongsam]

This makes me swell with pride. The number 1 PAP honcho is a huge asset to the country. I don't know where Singapore would be without him.

 

[glockman]

This makes me swell with pride. The number 1 PAP honcho is a huge asset to the country. I don't know where Singapore would be without him.

Yes we are as proud of him as you are of the NZ PM.

 

[Leongsam]

Yes we are as proud of him as you are of the NZ PM.

You're kidding me I wish that horse face would drop dead from corona. Unfortunately she'll definitely survive it even if she catches it because of her youth.

 

[rushifa666]

Too lomg and waste of space. Any yellow monkey will dk if they can use it as anti trump. Youcan stumble out of a container and say fuck trump. Insane citizenship

 

[glockman]

You're kidding me I wish that horse face would drop dead from corona. Unfortunately she'll definitely survive it even if she catches it because of her youth.


View attachment 74565

Hence, it would seem the glowing comments of her and pinky are unfounded. Stupid yanks.

https://www.sammyboy.com/threads/si...s-but-criticised-in-china.282564/post-3079037

 

[Leckmichamarsch]

hope trump demand he licks his arse